William REEVES

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Gentlemans' Gardener
• Apprenticed: Abt 1839

Notes:

According to Doris Reeves - (daughter of Frank William Reeves)
Aged 13 he was apprenticed to the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth House as a gardener.
Anne Billson (nee Whitaker) with son Henry Sydney came to Chatsworth as a sewing maid to the Duchess and sometime after the death of Henry Billson (1855), she married William Reeves. (Her son was then 16 years old).
He worked with Paxton, (the Duke's Head Gardener) on the gardens at the Crystal Palace for 20 years. Eventually he went back to Chatsworth for the Duke, and then in 1875 emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand

There is a possibility that Chatsworth was a mistake. Considering where they all lived it's more likely that they went to Chiswick House.


William Spencer Cavendish (1790 - 1858) succeeded to the dukedom, and inherited 8 historic houses and 200,000 acres of land in 1811 at the age of 21. The 'Bachelor' Duke never married but loved entertaining and spent the 47 years of his dukedom improving his houses and embellishing them with every kind of object. He made extensive travels in Europe and said that "..at Rome.....the love of marble possesses most people like a new sense.". The most important room in the North Wing at Chatsworth, commissioned by him from Jeffry Wyatt (later Sir Jeffry Wyatville), was the Sculpture Gallery containing his outstanding collection of neo-classical (i.e. contemporary) sculpture. He also bought two complete libraries, many paintings and curiosities including the giant marble Colossal Foot and the Turkish Barge.
The Duke was Lord Chamberlain to King William IV. His friendships were very varied; he was particularly close to Czar Nicholas I of Russia and to the head gardener at Chatsworth, Sir Joseph Paxton, but also enjoyed friendships with the novelist Charles Dickens and the sculptor Antonio Canova. As Paxton's patron the Duke became fascinated by gardening and their alterations to the garden at Chatsworth included the creation of rockeries, fountains and glass buildings, culminating in the Great Conservatory, forerunner to the Crystal Palace, built by Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851. They also rebuilt the village of Edensor in the Park at Chatsworth.
The Duke wrote a "Handbook to Chatsworth and Hardwick" (published privately in 1844), in which he showed his enthusiasm and love for the two houses he owned in Derbyshire and his enjoyment of his possessions.

Birth:
1861 Census - born in Langley

Apprenticed:
Description: to the 6th Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth

Buried:
Description: Block E, Row 37, Plot 66

William married Ann WHITAKER on 17 Jun 1858 in District Church of St. Mary ---?. Ann (daughter of Stephen Philip WHITAKER and Mary HUETSON) was born on 2 Nov 1823 in St. Giles, Cripplegate, London; died on 22 May 1902 in Ellerslie, Auckland; was buried on 23 May 1902 in Purewa Cemetery, Auckland, NZ. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
FreeFormatDate:Jun Q 1858 1a 422 Westminster

Description: John White & Elizabeth Fisher

1. Harriet REEVES was born about 1859 in Fulham; and died.
2. Amy REEVES was born about 1861 in Fulham; and died.
3. Frank REEVES was born about 1863 in Fulham; died in 1954 in New Zealand.
4. Frank William REEVES was born on 25 Feb 1865 in Chiswick; died in 1938 in New Zealand.
5. Horace Walter REEVES was born in 1869 in Croydon; died in 1942 in New Zealand.
6. Effie REEVES was born in 1870 in Croydon; and died.

William married Hester COMBER on 17 Jun 1816 in Maidstone, Kent. Hester was born in 1793 in Langley Maidstone, Kent; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1861, Orchard Street, Maidstone

Notes:

Widowed by 1861

Notes:

Married:
IGI Batch No. I005958 Film